www.corpun.com

-- THE ARCHIVE --

BOLIVIA

New York Times, 26 January 2009

Bolivians Ratify New Constitution

By Simon Romero

(extracts)

Enrique Castro-Mendivil/ReutersAn Aymara Indian voted Sunday at a polling station in El
Alto, Bolivia, a city of slums on the outskirts of the capital,
La Paz.

EL ALTO, Bolivia -- President Evo Morales seemed assured
of an easy victory in a referendum on Sunday over a sweeping new
Constitution aimed at empowering Bolivia's Indians. The vote
capped three years of conflict-ridden efforts by Mr. Morales to
overhaul a political system he had associated with centuries of
indigenous subjugation.

Citing preliminary vote counts, reports on national television
said about 60 percent of voters had approved the new
Constitution. If that margin holds or goes higher, it would
strengthen Mr. Morales's mandate, political analysts here
said.

Click to enlarge

Still, regional conflict over the results may loom in the
months ahead. Citing the same counts, both state and private news
media said at least four departments, or provinces, in
Bolivia's rebellious eastern lowlands had rejected the
charter by wide margins.

Vaguely worded items among the new Constitution's 411
articles would broaden definitions of property to include
communal ownership; allow Indians to mete out corporal
punishment under their own legal systems; extend
limited autonomy to regional prefects; and reaffirm state control
over Bolivia's ample natural gas reserves.

It is up to Congress to draft regulations for many of these
articles, but the legislature also is an institution in flux,
with Indians guaranteed new representation in its chambers.

[...]

Few people claim to know precisely how the laws will function
under the new Constitution, in what way they will undergo
substantial revision in Congress or how they will affect a nation
facing a sharp economic slowdown this year.